T hi s di s pos i t i on i s notappr opr i a t e f orpubl i c a t i on and i s notpr e c e de nt * e xc e pta s pr ovi de d by9th C i r . R . 36- 3. NOT F OR P UB L I CAT I ON UN I TE D STATE S C OU RT OF APPE ALS FOR T HE NI NTH CI RC UI T T R I- V ’ S H O M E S , IN C . ; V IC T O R IO GU I CO; RE GI NA GU I CO; CL I EN L E S T E R GU I C O; L E S L L YN GU I C O; L I E Z E L G U I C O ; V I C G U I C O , J r ., P l ai n t i ffs - A p p el l an t s, v. UN I T E D S T AT E S DE P AR T ME NT OF HO M EL AN D SEC URI TY; UN I TE D S T AT E S C I T I Z E NS HI P AN D I M M I G RA TI O N SERV I CES, D efen d an t s - A p p el l ees. N o. 09- 56494 D . C . N o . 2 : 0 8 -cv -0 6 9 5 4 -R G K -JC ME MOR AN DU M *

A pp ea l fr om the U ni t ed S t at es D i stri ctC ou rt f o rth e C e n tr a l D is tr ic t o f C a lif o rn ia R . G a ryK l aus ne r , D i s tr i c tJ udge , P r e s i di ng A r gue d a nd S ubm i tt e d F e brua ry7, 2011

P a s a d e n a , C a lif

o rn ia B efo re: D . W . N E L S O N , R E IN H A R D T , an d N . R . S M IT H , C i rcu i tJu d g es. 

# FI LED MA R 04 2011 M OLLY C. DW Y ER, CLERK U . S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS2

A ppe l l a nt s T r i - V ’ s H om e s e ta l . ( c ol l e c t i ve l y , “ T r i - V ” ) appe a l the or de ra nd j u d g me n ti s s u e d a g a i n s tth e m a n d i n f a v o ro f D e f e n d a n t s - A p p e l l e e s U . S. D e p a rtm e n t o f

H o m e la n d S e c u r itye t a l. ( c o lle c tiv e ly , “D e f e n d a n ts ” ) . T r i- V ’s s u it ar i se s outof the U ni t ed S t at es C i t i ze nshi p and Im m i grat i on S ervi ce s’ (“ U S C IS ”) a n d th e A d m in is tr a tiv e A p p e a ls O f f ic e ’s ( “A A O ” ) r e

je c tio n o f

T r i- V ’s p e titio n to ext end L -1 vi sast atus for an em pl oyee , V i ct ori o G ui co (“ G ui co”) . T he di stri ct courtfoun d thatT ri -V had fai l ed t o sho w that , un der the A dm i ni stra t i ve P roce du re A ct(“ A P A ”) , the adm i ni stra t i ve agency’ s deni al of i t s e xt ensi on pet i t i on w as “a rb itr a ry , c ap r ic io u s , a n ab u s e o f d is c r e tio n , o ro th e rw is e n o t in a c c o r d a n c e w ith th e l a w . ” W e a f

f i rm.

“ I n e xa m i ni ng adi s tr i c tc ourt ’ s de c i s i ons a f t e rabe nc h tr i a l , w e r e vi e w the d i s tr i c tc o u rt ’ s f

i n d i n g s o f

f a c tf o rc l e a re rr o ra n d i t s c o n c l u s i o n s o f l a w de no vo . ” B r a z il Q u a litySto n e s , I n c . v . Ch e r to

ff , 531 F . 3d 1063, 1067 ( 9th C i r . 2008) . T he u n d erl yi n g ag en cy d eci si o n m ay n o tb e setasi d e “ u n l ess i ti s ‘ arb i trary, cap ri ci o u s, an abuse of di sc re t i on , or otherw i se no ti n acc ordance w i th the l aw . ’ ” I d. ( quot i ng 5 U . S . C . § 7 06 (2)( A )) . “ T he agency’ s f ac tual fi nd i ng s are re vi ew ed for s ub st ant i al evi dence. ” Fam i l

y I nc. v. U SC IS , 469 F . 3d 1313, 1315 ( 9th C i r . 2006) ( c i t a t i ons om i tt ed).3

1. W e a gree w i th T ri -V thatU S C IS erre d i n tre at i ng T ri -V ’ s F orm I29 0B as an appeal ra ther than a m ot i on t o reopen o r r ec on si der. T ri -V ’ s F orm I29 0B w as cl earl y m arked as am ot i on t o reopen o r r ec on si der. U S C IS w as r e q u ir e d to is s u e aw r itte n d e c is io n o n th e m o tio n p u r s u a n t to its r e g u la tio n s . 8 C . F . R . § 103. 5( a ) ( 7) . I ns t e a d, U S C I S di d noti s s ue aw r i tt e n de c i s i on a nd f o rwar d e d th e m a tt e ra s a n ap p e a l t o AA O. W e c o n c lu d e , h o w e v e r , th a t U S C I S ’s e rr o rw a s h a rm le s s . C ityo f Sa u s a lito v . O ’ N e ill , 386 F . 3d 1186, 1220 ( 9th C i r . 2004) ( “ I n r e vi e w i ng a ge nc ya c t i on, the A P A re q u ires th at ‘du e a cc o u n t sh all b e tak en o f th e ru le o f p re ju d icial err o r.’” (quo t i ng 5 U . S . C . § 7 06 )) . O n app ea l , A A O di d con si der the am ended t ax re turn subm i tt ed by T ri -V i n i t s m ot i on t o reopen, and fou nd thati tfa i l ed t o est abl i sh that T r i - V a nd i t s f

or e i gn pa r e ntc om pa nyw e r e “ qua l i f y i ng or ga ni z a t i ons ” f

orthe pu rposes of the L -1 vi saext ensi on . B ec ause thatfi nd i ng al on e w ou l d h ave been suff i ci entt o d eny the m ot i on t o reopen, the agency’ s f ai l ure t o tre atthe m ot i on as su ch w as h arm l ess. 2. U S C IS and A A O di d n otabuse thei r di sc re t i on i n d enyi ng T ri -V ’ s L -1 e x te n s io n ap p lic a tio n . T h e c o m p a n y ’s c o rp o r a te ta x r e tu rn f a ile d to s h o w th a t it had forei gn ow ners hi p. F urther, the A A O det erm i ned thatthe com pany’ s am ended t ax re turn d i d n otre sol ve the qu es t i on as t o w hy the com pany had fi l ed a t ax form4

“ w hi ch [w as ] i napp ropri at e f or i t s purpo rt ed ow ners hi p structure and w hi ch c ont a i n[ e d] a ve rm e nt s w hi c h di r e c t l yc ontr a di c t [ e d] i t s c l a i m t o be 70% ow ne d by the f or e i gn e m pl oy e r . ” T he A A O f ound tha tthe a m e nde d t a x r e turn w a s nott o be gi ve n s e r i ous w e i ght , be c aus e i tw a s pr e pa r e d a f t e rthe de ni a l of

the pe t i t i on by U SCI S. F urthe r , T r i - V f

a i l e d t o s ubm i tac opy of i t s N ot i c e of

T r a ns a c t i on P ur s ua nt t o C orpo ra t i on s C od e S ec t i on 25 10 2(f) , as re qu es t ed by U S C IS . F i nal l y, T ri -V f a i l e d t o pr ovi de a nye vi de nc e tha tthe $10, 000 c a s h i nve s tm e ntor i gi na t e d w i th the fore i gn pare ntcom pany, even aft erthe agency s peci fi ca l l y r equest ed do cum ent ary proo f. O n thi s r ec ord, w e c anno tsay thatthe agency’ s c on cl usi on thatT ri -V fa i l ed to m e e t th e “q u a lif

y in g o r g a n iz a tio n s ” r e q u ir e m e n t w a s a rb itr a ryo rc ap r ic io u s . B e c aus e thi s w a s a n i nde pe nde nta nd s uf f i c i e ntgr ound f

orthe a ge nc y ’ s de ni a l of T r i- V ’s L - 1 e x te n s io n ap p lic a tio n , w e n e e d n o t c o n s id e rth e a g e n c y ’s tw o s e p a r a te g r o u n d s f

o rd e n ia l. AF F I RME D.